Just so I’m tracking correctly.
Powell is supporting him because he’s black.
Does that mean you believe that the Obama haters don’t like him for the same reason- because he’s black?
Sam.
Ya never know if ya don’t ask.
IMO, he is just getting even with President Bush for what he percieves to be wrongs against him.
That, and I’m sure there is some hope for personal gain.
I have respected him in the past, that has slowly eroded to nothing now.
And Powells decision surprises you because…?
Opposition and support are not polar opposites, or flip sides of the same coin so this logic doesnt hold. Ying and Yang need not apply.
Considering 90% of Powell’s reasons for supporting Obama are idiotic and stink of a double standard. Like the experiance arguement considering Palin is at the bottom, while Obama is the top. Or Ayers who is a traitor and enemy of USA and it is Powell’s sworn oath to kill or capture people like Ayers. Powell may have thrown up smoke, but his reasoning is damn thin to anyone paying attention.
Powell has been a liberal since forever.
Powell’s timing is impeccable, right before the election with Obama barely leading in the polls. Powell is a member of the CFR and you can bet that group is looking for another healthy dose of socialism to ram up our ass. The “rescue” and then 4-8 years of Obama. I’ll bet they never thought McCain could be so close after the huge amount of money spent on the Obama campaign.
what ddemis said.
i think this is more about black pride than anything else.
I don’t consider Powell even relevant anymore…
I don’t know if I would call it “black pride”, but I’d certainly argue that race is a huge motivator in the decision. Powell’s interview was full of nonsense. He essentially called John McCain’s supporters and a huge chunk of the Republican party a bunch of biggots in his interview. I almost tossed my cookies when he made that statement and then went on about the muslim soldier who died in Iraq.
There is an enormous amount of social pressure on black people to support Barak. Hell, there’s an enormous amount of social pressure on blacks to toe the liberal line period.
I heard Cornell West actually say at an event discussing “race” that Condi and Clarence Thomas weren’t black…merely dark skinned.
Think about that: He essentially excommunicated them from the race, all to the thunderous standing ovation by the mostly black audience.
Now speaking as a white guy, it doesn’t upset me in the least if some nazi skinhead calls me a traitor to the race…but I have a feeling things are a lot different for black folks.
My 2 cents.
I agree that opposition and support are not ALWAYS polar opposites. I also understand that racial association is not always THE motivating factor of support.
Dang, someone beat me to it… 
BTW, who is this Powell guy?
People seem to forget that until the mid '90s, Powell was a democrat. His admitted reason for switching? After the Republicans took Congress in '94, he thought that there was more political future with the Republicans than the Democrats.
Surprise, surprise, surprise!
http://news.aol.com/article/obama-powell-will-have-a-role-in/209734?cid=3272
Seems that Gen. Powell is going to have a job in an Obama whitehouse. Who’da thunk it?
I was going to say the same thing. Who cares? Powell’s been out of the public eye for a long time. His highest political position was in the administration that Obama’s camp blames for everything from the economy to male-pattern baldness.
And then to top it off, he doesn’t even make a compelling case as to why he made this choice?
Frankly, anyone who makes their choice this late in the game, is either a moron, or an opportunist trying to cash in on their perception of who’s winning.
Maybe I should do a press release about my endorsement…
Tell your friends! Call the papers! LOKNLOD says, vote McCain-Palin! :rolleyes:
it wasn’t too long ago that Colin Powell said that “an Obama win would be electrifying.”
so why should we be surprised about this “official” (that is, officially timed) announcement?
I believe I heard applause here when McCain chose Palin as his VP. It was said that this was the move of a shrewd politician.
Why is this “move” by Powell/Obama not appreciated in the same way, as “fair game”?
How is this considered underhanded, sneaky and low?
Now if Powell toed the line and supported McCain, would you still consider him a non-issue or would he have been held high for all the political persuassion he could he could bring?
If this is not the intended message from some here then please excuse me but I have to ask.
Sam.
Powell sold out his party for the promise of a post as a high level Presidential Advisor…I have lost all respect for him now.
Obama: Powell will have role in administration
By Laurie Kellman - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 20, 2008 9:52:23 EDT
WASHINGTON — Colin Powell will have a role as a top presidential adviser in an Obama administration, the Democratic White House hopeful said Monday.
“He will have a role as one of my advisers,” Barack Obama said on NBC’s “Today” in an interview aired Monday, a day after Powell, a four-star general and President Bush’s former secretary of state, endorsed him.
“Whether he wants to take a formal role, whether that’s a good fit for him, is something we’d have to discuss,” Obama said.
Being a top presidential adviser, especially on foreign policy, would be familiar ground to Powell on a subject that’s relatively new to the freshman Illinois senator. Obama has struggled to establish his foreign policy credentials against GOP candidate John McCain, a decorated military veteran, former prisoner of war and ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In the NBC interview, Obama said Powell did not give him a heads up before he crossed party lines and endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate on the network’s “Meet the Press” a day earlier.
“It isn’t easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that,” Powell said of his longtime friend, the Arizona senator. “But I firmly believe that at this point in America’s history, we need a president that will not just continue, even with a new face and with the changes and with some maverick aspects, who will not just continue basically the policies that we have been following in recent years.
“I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change and that’s why I’m supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain.”
Powell said he was cognizant of the racial aspect of his endorsement, but said that was not the dominant factor in his decision. If it was, he said, he would have made the endorsement months ago.
He said both Obama and McCain are qualified to be commander in chief, but Obama is better suited to handle the nation’s economic problems as well as help improve its standing in the world.
Powell also expressed disappointment in the negative tone of McCain’s campaign, his choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate and the McCain campaign’s decision to focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama’s ties to 1960s radical William Ayers.
He said McCain’s choice of Palin raised questions about judgment.
“I don’t believe she’s ready to be president of the United States,” Powell said.
As secretary of state, Powell helped make the case before the United Nations for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, launched in March 2003. A retired Army general, he also was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the 1991 Persian Gulf War under President George H.W. Bush.
Powell said he didn’t plan to hit the campaign trail with Obama before the Nov. 4 election.
“I won’t lie to you, I would love to have him at any stop,” Obama said with a grin Monday. “Obviously, if he wants to show up, he’s got an open invitation.”
McCain, meanwhile, seemed dismissive of Powell’s endorsement, saying it wasn’t a surprise, that the two share mutual respect and are longtime friends.
McCain pointed out Sunday that he had support from four other former secretaries of state, all veterans of Republican administrations: Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig.
The highlights are just what I took from this.
I don’t see any clear ahah! text in here.
What did I miss?
I personally think if Powell didn’t support Obama and McCain got elected and he chose Powell to be an advisor that would be a good choice.
It just seems to me that some now think he’s a turd because he won’t support the republicans in this election. From what’s been shown to me he has always voted rep. before. Some may say it’s the color thing but many feel that Obama is a very different candidate, outside of color.
Sam.
The problem I have is that if you look at the far left people who Obama has associted himself with, they are the most anti-military people around. Didn’t Obama once claim that US troops were slaughtering villages in Iraq or Afghanistan?
Knowing this, I cannot see how Powell can back him.